


Animal Intuition

by FaygoMayhem



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ignoct Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-31
Updated: 2017-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-09 05:45:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11662836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaygoMayhem/pseuds/FaygoMayhem
Summary: Noctis stumbles upon a beautiful stranger while walking his dog at the park....OK, more like crashes into himWritten For Day 1 of Ignoct week 2017





	Animal Intuition

**Author's Note:**

> I'm late for everything because I had nothing prepared, but this still technically counts. 
> 
> Written for Day 1 Simple Prompt: Falling in love

It’s eight in the morning on a Saturday and by all accounts, Noctis Lucis Caelum should not, under any circumstance, be awake. The normally lazy twenty-something year old had made it a personal mission to ensure to any person he’d ever come into contact with that they understand the severe consequences of attempting to wake him before noon except in the most dire circumstance, and even that was subject to his very selective interpretation. Unfortunately for him, he had not yet figured out the best way to explain the importance of his scheduling to a dog.

Not that Umbra was, by any means, a stupid dog. Rather, the animal seemed singularly determined to ensure that he got as little sleep and privacy as possible. Noctis couldn’t even really blame the poor guy as both of them had been pretty out of sorts since the passing of Umbra’s former owner and Noct’s childhood friend Lunafreya. She had taken ill pretty suddenly, and one of her last requests of him was that he take care of Umbra, while his sister Pryna went to Luna’s brother Ravus.  

Noctis loved animals, and always had a deep connection with Umbra, in particular, so he was more than happy to honor Luna’s wishes. However, he didn’t exactly anticipate the amount of work and responsibility that went into constantly caring for dogs of Umbra’s size and energy level. Their first night together, Noctis had fallen asleep on the couch paying no mind to the animal and had awoken to find the floor of his apartment covered in feathers from various destroyed throw pillows and had to spend several hours trying to clean the pee out of his carpet.

Since then he had tried everything he could think of to adapt the dog into his normal schedule, but the stubborn beast more or less refused to cooperate. He’d tried leaving enough food, water, and newspaper out for him to sustain himself until he was able to drag himself out of bed and woke up to shredded paper and bits of food all over the kitchen floor. He’d tried keeping him in the spare bedroom for the night, and was rewarded with hours of painful howling and a door full of scratch marks. He’d even tried paying someone else to take him out in the mornings only to have them quit on the spot when the normally friendly dog refused to go near them and wouldn’t stop barking.

Eventually, Noctis had been forced to give in to the animal’s demands and actually start waking himself up to make sure the dog was fed and walked properly, which is why he was currently practically sleepwalking through the local park while attached to the leash of the furry black brute. Umbra was pulling him along none too gently as he surged forward in constant quest for interesting things to smell and lift his leg at while Noctis just tried to concentrate on keeping his eyes open and semi-aware of their surroundings so he didn’t crash into trees or end up in the lake.

He’s in the middle of a deep yawn when a squirrel innocently climbs down from a tree and crosses their path. He catches the movement out of the corner of his eye, but is still too late to do anything to stop Umbra from suddenly dashing after it and tugging the leash out of his hands.  Noctis blinks dumbly, taking a second to realize what happened before breaking into a run and chasing after the renegade dog.

The two sprint across the open landscape of the park, Umbra panting happily with his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he bounds after his prey and Noctis following in frustration, calling the dog’s name and desperately yelling for him to stop. They draw a great deal of attention from fellow joggers and dog walkers who either point and laugh or shake their heads in quite judgment of the flailing young man in wild pursuit of his unruly animal.

They ran up and over a small hill and then down onto one of the less populated pedestrian paths. Noctis was starting to tire, but it seemed the dog had an endless amount of energy and wasn’t planning on stopping any time soon, though the squirrel he’d been after had escaped a while back. His legs and back were burning and he was panting heavily from the unwanted exercise, but he still increased his speed in a final effort to catch the animal before he was completely exhausted.

He was so determined he didn’t even notice the man leisurely walking toward them along the path. Umbra was still racing forward, but managed to dart nimbly to the side just before the two met, knocking the man slightly off balance as he rushed past. Noctis, however, only had enough time to finally spot him and wonder why he didn’t get out of the way before running straight into him, sending them both crashing down to the ground.

Noctis fell on top of the stranger in a wild tangle of limbs, knocking the wind out of them both and leaving them sprawled out in the dirt. Luckily the collision finally halted Umbra and he came trotting back to check on his fallen master. He started furiously licking Noct’s face, causing the young man to groan and squirm around trying to escape the assault as he wondered why the ground was so lumpy and strangely warm. He finally got the dog to stop and blinked his eyes slowly open to the realization that he was crushing the man beneath him, and he frantically rolled over and scrambled to his feet to help the other man up.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry. I was chasing after my dog and didn’t even see you there,” Noctis says frantically as he grabs the man’s hand and tugs him to his feet. The stranger gives him a disapproving scowl and tries to futilely brush the dirt off of his nice black trousers and suit jacket.

“I’m afraid the mistake was mutual,” the stranger growled while scanning the ground in search of something. Noctis spotted a pair of dark sunglasses on the ground and picked them up to hand them over to the man.

He didn’t seem to notice at first that Noctis was handing them over so he cleared his throat and mumbled hesitant, “Here.”

The man finally turned and looked his way but something seemed off. His gaze was a little to the right of his face and his eyes seemed unfocused, almost as if…Oh. Well, wasn’t that just the perfect start to his day? Chasing his dog halfway around the entire park at an obscene hour of the morning and mowing down a blind man. Wonderful.

Noctis groaned again and stepped forward to press the glasses into the man’s hand while glaring down at Umbra, who’s only response was to plant his butt down and stare up at him with his tongue still hanging out of his mouth in a dopey dog grin. The stranger grumbled a curt ‘thank you’ and placed the glasses back on his face to shield his unseeing white eyes from the sun.

“I’m missing my cane as well, if you wouldn’t mind?” the man’s voice was a rich tenor with an accent that made Noctis shiver a little at the rich sound. Embarrassed, he quickly began scanning the ground in search of missing object. Unfortunately for him, so did Umbra.

Being the faster of the two, the dog found the cane first and quickly scooped it up in his mouth like an overly large stick and bowed his head forward between his front legs like he wanted to play. Luna forgive him, Noctis was going to _kill_ that dog.

“Umbra, No! Drop it,” Noctis called in the most authoritative voice he could currently muster, though it came out sounding more like a tired whine than anything. He moved toward him to try and snatch the cane from his mouth and Umbra wagged his tale, letting out a playful yap as he ducked off to the side to evade Noct’s grip. Noctis shot an apologetic look over to the man, forgetting temporarily that he couldn’t see him, and moved to try and grab the cane again. This time Umbra moved his head to the side and wacked his master in the shin with the cane, causing Noct to howl in pain. He was probably mistaken, but he thought he almost saw the man smiling at the exchange.

Umbra dodged out of his way again and, to Noct’s surprise, trotted over to the stranger and pressed his muzzle against his palm while making another yapping noise to indicate his direction. He sat down and tilted his head up so the man could smoothly pluck the cane out of his mouth.

“Why thank you,” the man leaned over slightly to pat Umbra on the head and the dog happily wagged his tail in response. Noctis made another frustrated noise and walked back over to his dog, taking the opportunity to finally get him back onto the leash.

“Sorry again,” he mumbled to the stranger, “You’re not hurt are you?” He looked the man up and down for signs of any injury, but aside from the dirt spots and wrinkles on what he assumed was once an impeccable suit he seemed unharmed. He was probably being a little creepy, but Noctis couldn’t help but continue to appraise the man for longer than what was probably acceptable even after deciding that he was alright.

Even counting his blank eyes, he was probably the most handsome man Noctis had even seen. He had light brown hair gelled back in an elegant pompadour, perfect cheekbones, a strong jawline and a pair of full, pointed lips. With his looks and voice combined Noctis wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that the man made his living off a MoogleTube channel where he sat in front of a camera and read the backs of cereal boxes.

“I believe I’ll live,” the beautiful stranger said with a smirk as he cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly to the side. It was almost as if he could sense Noctis unabashedly drooling over him, so he quickly turned his head to the side and forced himself to look somewhere else.

“That’s…Uhhh- that’s good. Not sure my father’s people could handle another scandal,” Noctis stammered nervously. The man gave him an odd look and he mentally kicked himself again. He was so used to people in the city knowing him on sight as the mayor’s son that the little joke about the terrible state of the re-election campaign had just slipped out.

“Well, perhaps I should get your information then, for my own protection of course,” the man smiled at him and Noctis felt himself blushing. Damn that was smooth, this guy could probably charm the pants off one of the marble statues down at the City Hall.

“I’m Noct. The delinquent at your feet is Umbra. Remember he was the cause of all this if you decide to press charges,” Umbra perks his ears up at the sound of his name and starts wagging his tail again. He stands and walks back over toward Noct to plop down at his feet. How could he possibly stay mad at such an adorable little jerk?

“And my name is Ignis, so you know who to make the hush-money check out to,” they both laugh and Noctis silently tests the name out on his tongue. It was sophisticated and fiery, much like the man himself, and somehow made him even more attractive than he was before. He aimlessly twirls Umbra’s leash in his hands trying to think of something else clever to say to keep the conversation going but falls short, leaving them both standing there awkwardly.

“Well, Noctis, meeting you has certainly been….eventful, but I believe I’ll be off now. I do hope you’ll do some reading on proper leash laws if we’re ever to meet again,” he extended his hand out in a friendly gesture with another genuine smile on his face. Noctis melts a little and eagerly steps forward to take it with a perfect witty retort on his tongue….that dies in his throat as he realizes that his traitor dog had been busy wrapping his legs up in the leash and he was about to fall spectacularly into his newfound crush for the second time in about ten minutes. Thankfully his strangled noise of surprise had alerted Ignis to the situation and Noctis felt a pair of lithe, strong, arms wrap around him and keep them both upright.

“I think my dog’s trying to kill me,” he mutters into Ignis’ chest.

“Or set you up on a blind date,” In spite of his embarrassment Noctis burst into a fit of laughter at the terrible joke. Ignis laughs with him and he can feel the vibrations against his ear, he quickly decides that he would very much like to stay there and listen to that sound for quite a while.

“Well, you know what they say about animal intuition. Think maybe we should take his advice?” Noctis asks coyly as he pulls away to glance up at Ignis, though his hopeful look is lost on the blind man.

“Perhaps if you show me proof of insurance first, as accident prone as this encounter is turning out,” Ignis smiles down at him and makes sure he’s steady on his feet before releasing him so he can untangle himself from the leash.

“I promise I’m not always this clumsy, but I can remain at a safe distance if it would make you more comfortable,” Noctis shoves his hands in his pockets and tries his best not to sound too desperate.

“I highly doubt your dog would approve of that arrangement. Seems better to stay close just in case,” he gives a nod over to Umbra who sticks his tongue out as if in agreement. “I think he agrees. Come grab a cup of coffee with me?” Noct’s heart starts pounding in his chest as he awaits an answer, and Umbra too seems to tilt his head in anticipation.

“I suppose it’s in my best interest to join you, lest I find myself chased up a tree.” Ignis tentatively holds out his elbow so Noct can grab his arm and show him the way. They link arms and start walking down the path toward the small café on the nearest street corner with Umbra happily trotting along beside them. When they eventually got home he was going to burn the dog the biggest steak he could find, that is, as long as they didn’t come across another squirrel.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Literal Faygo is literal. ^^; 
> 
> I might end up continuing this if I run out of ideas for the rest of the week. Thanks for reading and Happy Ignoct week everyone!


End file.
